AP

“I was born of honest parents, of good reputation among their neighbours.”

Got good of the gospel

Thomas Boston’s father, John, first “got good of the gospel” when he was a youth. He was a cooper by trade (one who made containers made of wood), and the family lived in Dunse, Scotland, approximately thirty-five miles southeast of Edinburgh. In 1639, nearly forty years before Thomas’ birth, the town had been a mustering point for the Covenanting Army opposed to King Charles I.

Thomas was born on 17^th March 1676, as the youngest of seven children. His mother’s name was Alison Trotter, “a woman prudent and virtuous.” Politically, Boston’s early years were part of a tumultuous period known as the ‘Killing Times’ from 1679 to 1688 when the Scottish Covenanters opposed the government forces of King Charles II and then James II (who was also James VII of Scotland).  

In 1680, John Boston was amongst many nonconformists who refused to yield to the established Church under the authority of the monarch, which had mandated worship in a way that they considered out of step with the Bible. Rather than suffer his conscience, he submitted to imprisonment in Dunse gaol. In addition, he was fined. One of Thomas’ earliest memories was spending time in the gaol with his father. Whatever uneasiness or fear he may have felt, the experience impressed on him that one day he too could be imprisoned. 

Deliver us from evil

Boston says that as a child he was a, “dexterous player at such games as required art and nimbleness.” He was also skilled at mustering and soldier’s drills, despite his timorous and reserved natural temperament. By the time he was seven years old, he was reading the Bible.

The Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matt. 6:13) How often our Heavenly Father has answered that prayer, even whilst we have been unaware, we’ll never know this side of heaven. It is enough for us to know that He does answer the prayer.

One time, when Boston was young, he went to a neighbour’s house where there was a fortune-teller. However, before he entered the room, the Holy Spirit intervened and, “I was suddenly struck in my mind.” It was a moment of decision as he was standing between the doors, before he slipped away without seeing the fortune-teller. Thus, he was saved from a sinful situation.

Absolute need of Christ

From the ages of eight to thirteen years of age, Boston went to a grammar school in Dunse. The church at that time was episcopal, having a hierarchy of bishops and a set liturgy. Boston went punctually its services, but nothing that he heard there had any spiritual effect upon him. He was “living without God in the world.”

His life was to change when at nearly twelve years of age, his father took him to a different church meeting. Preaching that day was Henry Erskine, and God spoke to Boston with two particular passages. The first was John 1:29 – “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” – and the second was Matthew 3:7 – “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

Boston realised his lost state before God, his “absolute need of Christ” and he was awakened by God. With these words, he describes the most supernatural experience that can ever happen to a human being: the new birth. God in His kindness took him from being dead in old Adam, and made him alive in Christ!

Blackadder water

What difference does this new life in Christ make to a person? Boston saw three ways in which God’s transformation was seen within him:

Firstly, he realised that he was a sinner, and in humility he lay his sins before the Lord “that He may not remember them against me.”

Secondly, he started to “pray in earnest.” Whereas, previously he had prayed at meal times and bedtime, now his prayers were of a different nature. He was truly seeking God.

Thirdly, he had a hunger to hear God’s word preached.

At this time, Boston used to travel four miles to hear Henry Erskine preach. During the summer he often had others to share the journey with him, but he said that “in the winter, sometimes it was my lot to go alone, without so much as the benefit of a horse to vary me through Blackadder water, the wading whereof in sharp frosty weather I very well remember.”

Any difficulties were gladly borne in order to hear God’s word truly proclaimed.

Zealous and raw

Boston’s zeal for God grew, albeit “I was raw and unexperienced.” With hindsight, he also saw “much of a legal disposition and way” within himself, and this was to become something that he would wrestle with later on. Nonetheless, his soul went out after Jesus Christ, “and the place of His feet was glorious in mine eyes.”

In those days, the gospel light was dim in the established Church, such that “whenever one turned serious about his soul’s state” they left. Boston did the same. He never returned to the established Church in Dunse, until several years later when the light of Christ began to burn more brightly.

Two friends

New life craves fellowship, and God gave Boston two friends whose hearts “the Lord had also touched.” Their names were Thomas Trotter and Patrick Gillies, and with Boston the three teenagers would pray, read the Scriptures and encourage one another in the Lord. Gillies in particular, came from a home that was “ignorant and carnal to a pitch” of spiritual things, and as Boston observed, this made God’s grace within him shine more brightly.

The Bible is full of the encouragement that godly friendship brings. David and Jonathan shared a deep bond of friendship in the LORD (1 Sam. 20:42). The Apostle Paul left Troas for Macedonia in order to search for Titus (2 Cor. 2:12-13). Spiritually, the friendship of Paul shown in this costly way must have helped to grow Titus tenfold.

Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” It is good to ask God to give us such friendships in the Lord.

Binding the Conscience

Sometimes in our zeal we can naïvely set a snare for ourselves. At this time, Boston made a promise that in hindsight turned out to be a spiritual hindrance to him. His promise was, “To bind myself in diligence in seeking the Lord, and to stir me up thereto. I made a vow, to pray so many times a day.”

As best as he could remember, the vow was to pray at least three times a day for a certain period of time, perhaps several months.  But the vow did not help Boston at all: “It was really a hindrance to my devotion.” He found that constrained by the vow, his prayers became “heartless,” and he was thankful when the time set for the vow ended and he was released from it. Boston concluded that he must not “bind up myself, where God has left me at liberty.”

From this, there are some lessons for us to learn;

Firstly, we must fulfil what we have promised. Sinful vows should be broken (e.g. Mark 6:23), but lawful vows must be kept, even when they hurt us (Ps. 15:4). In Daniel 1:8, Daniel would not “defile himself” with the food or wine of the King of Babylon, because of a resolution that he had made. It appears that this was a matter of conscience before God, and God blessed Daniel for it (Dan. 1:9). Boston took seriously the vow that he had made, despite it being unwise. Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, “When you vow a vow to God, do not delay paying it, for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you vow. It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.”

Secondly, whilst believers are commanded to pray, we are not told how many times a day we must pray. Daniel’s habit was to pray on his knees in his home, whilst facing Jerusalem, three times a day. He refused to break this practice, even when he was threatened and it would have been expedient to do so (Dan. 6:10). In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are told to “pray without ceasing.” This is shown in a spirit of continual communion with God. Discipline is good, and we are commanded to learn from the discipline of an athlete, and run with self-control, lest we be disqualified (1 Cor. 9:24-27). And yet, the Devil is crafty and we can be unwise so as to twist God’s good gifts out of shape from their intent. In doing so, we may lay a burden on ourselves.

Thirdly, we ought not to bind the conscience beyond the Scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 10:23, the Apostle Paul appears to be quoting from some who were saying, “All things are lawful.” Paul’s response to such an attitude was: “but not all things are helpful… not all things build up.” We should not bind the conscience of another person, believer or non-believer, where the Scriptures give freedom. In addition, as Boston discovered, it may not be wise to bind our own conscience. It is best to leave the conscience free where God would not bind us. We may think that we are doing ourselves good, when instead we stunt our spiritual growth.

Richard Sibbes (1577-1635) said of avoiding unnecessary rules that the Apostle Paul “was so careful in the cases of conscience not to lay a snare upon a weak conscience… Christ came down from heaven and emptied himself of majesty in tender love to souls. Will we not come down from our high conceits to do any poor soul good? Will man be proud after God has been humble?”

– Graham Barnes